Romans 9:16-10:10

English Standard Version

¹⁶So then it depends not on human will or exertion,^[a] but on God, who has mercy. ¹⁷For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ^(A)“For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” ¹⁸So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

¹⁹You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For ^(B)who can resist his will?” ²⁰But who are you, O man, ^(C)to answer back to God? ^(D)Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” ²¹^(E)Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump ^(F)one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? ²²What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience ^(G)vessels of wrath ^(H)prepared for destruction, ²³in order to make known ^(I)the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he ^(J)has prepared beforehand for glory— ²⁴even us whom he ^(K)has called, ^(L)not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? ²⁵As indeed he says in Hosea,

^(M)“Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’
and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’”
²⁶^(N)“And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called ^(O)‘sons of the living God.’”

²⁷And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: ^(P)“Though the number of the sons of Israel^[b] be as the sand of the sea, ^(Q)only a remnant of them will be saved, ²⁸for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” ²⁹And as Isaiah predicted,

^(R)^(S)“If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring,
^(T)we would have been like Sodom
and become like Gomorrah.”

Israel's Unbelief

³⁰What shall we say, then? ^(U)That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, ^(V)a righteousness that is by faith; ³¹but that Israel ^(W)who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness^[c] ^(X)did not succeed in reaching that law. ³²Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the ^(Y)stumbling stone, ³³as it is written,

^(Z)“Behold, I am laying in Zion ^(AA)a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense;
^(AB)and whoever believes in him will not be ^(AC)put to shame.”

10 Brothers,^[d] my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. ²For I bear them witness that ^(AD)they have a zeal for God, ^(AE)but not according to knowledge. ³For, being ignorant of ^(AF)the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. ⁴For ^(AG)Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.^[e]

The Message of Salvation to All

⁵For ^(AH)Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that ^(AI)the person who does the commandments shall live by them. ⁶But ^(AJ)the righteousness based on faith says, ^(AK)“Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) ⁷“or ‘Who will descend into the ^(AL)abyss?’” (that is, ^(AM)to bring Christ up from the dead). ⁸But what does it say? ^(AN)“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); ⁹because, if ^(AO)you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and ^(AP)believe in your heart ^(AQ)that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.